Traveling during summer break gives many college students a chance to get away and relax after a semester of classes, projects and tests. But a group of Amarillo College students said their trip to Cambodia this summer was much more than that.

“As college students, it’s easy to get caught up in work, school, and having a social life,” Hannah Lang, a speech pathology major, said by email. “Although those things are important, traveling halfway around the world makes you stop and focus on others. You realize that there are billions of people in this world, and it’s not all about you.”

Lang, a member of the Presidential Scholars, traveled to Cambodia for over a week in mid-May. The group of students was joined by two faculty members, Judy Carter, honors program coordinator, Russell Lowery-Hart, vice president of academic affairs and Jackie White, with Panhandle PBS.

The group visited local monuments, like Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world. They rode tuk-tuks, a three-wheeled form of public transportation, and spent time interacting with local villagers. While the students said they enjoyed the trip, it was not time spent idly.

“The trips are not meant to be vacations,” said Carter by email. “Certainly, we’ll see the cultural highlights of cities we visit, but an understanding of the history, culture and people prior to the trip make the actual time traveling much more meaningful.”

Carter said the students were responsible for researching topics relating to their major during the fall and spring semester prior to the trip. The students then present their projects during the Honors Expo in the spring.

Students said though they may at first dread the research, which can be time-consuming, it comes in handy once they reach their destination.

“Had I not researched disabilities in Cambodia, I wouldn’t have understood why so many Cambodians with disabilities were begging for money,” Lang said.

Carter said travel destinations for the students are related to the AC Common Reader, a book chosen each year by faculty and staff and given to all enrolled students to be used in class activities and campus events.

“Wine to Water” by Doc Hendley was chosen for the 2013-14 school year and focuses on the author’s efforts to supply clean drinking water to developing countries. During the school year, the scholars were able to meet with Hendley, conduct fundraisers for the organization and coordinate with Hendley to construct water filters in Cambodia.

“We as Americans, do not realize how fortunate we are to have water at our disposal,” Micayla Hudson, an education major, said by email. “While in Cambodia we actually helped make and package water filters for villages. Not only that but we visited one of the villages where one of the big water harvesting things had been installed.”

Hudson said she was astonished by the amount of work that went into obtaining clean water, something the students had to adapt to while in the country. It was one of the many “culture shocks” she and Lang described during their first experience of international travel.

“International flights, exotic foods, different cultures, and having to use adapters were all new experiences for a lot of us!” Lang said. “Although it was an overwhelming experience at times, I feel like we all had an eye-opening experience.”

While the trip was one of the highlights of their time with the presidential scholars, Lang and Hudson said the program is much more than the travel. The instructors are fantastic, said Lang, and put in the effort to make the program run smoothly.

“I have loved every minute of being a part of this amazing group,” said Hudson. “I feel like if I had just come into college not being involved, I would have been a recluse and just avoided any interaction at all. Being in this group it allows you to be social and meet new people.”